Portrait by Matthew Spiegelman
Jennifer Sullivan (b. 1978, New York) creates expressionistic, character-driven paintings that explore personal narratives through a combination of observation and invention. Working from a diaristic and metaphoric sensibility, she uses composition, cropping, and intuitive color relationships to map an evolving inner life. Drawing on borrowed plotlines and protagonists from mythology, film, and music alongside her own experiences, her work weaves personal emotion with shared cultural references and archetypes. Source images are inhabited much like an actor inhabits a role.
Her work has taken various forms, from autobiographical performance and video in earlier explorations to her current practice centered on painting, alongside drawing, printmaking, and hand-painted bleach T-shirts. Based in Ridgewood, Queens, Sullivan holds an MFA in Fine Art from Parsons School of Design and a BFA from Pratt Institute.
Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include The Tenderness (with Raychael Stine, Emma Gray HQ, 2024) and Sleeper (Turn Gallery, 2021). She has participated in group exhibitions at NADA Miami, Peter Blum Gallery, Marinaro, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, and the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Awards include fellowships with Shandaken Projects (2020) and the Fine Arts Work Center (2012–13), as well as residencies at The Lighthouse Works, Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Ox-Bow School of Art, and Yaddo. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Vogue, ArtForum, Art Papers, TimeOut NY, and The Brooklyn Rail.
For inquiries, email me: jennifer@jennifersullivan.org
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